Super Mario RPG

[TV Eye]

Okay, all this talk of Geno's appearance in Brawl (maybe) got me to start playing SMRPG again (the first time I played, I never even got to the sewers, much less met Geno).

Anyways, I'm curious as to how many of you guys actually played it, and what your thoughts were of it...I personally found it a very fun game, with a unique story (also Bowser was hilarious!).

And, for added fun, what should a sequel add?

[Fryguy64]

As the game was never released in the UK, I had to wait until it was suitably emulated before I could play it.

And I was not disappointed. The game turned RPG conventions on their pompous heads, and gave us a vibrant, crazy world, filled with bizarre characters plucked from throughout the Mario games, plus a whole host of new characters - many of them particularly memorable.

It introduced action commands, which made the bland, menu-based gameplay of RPGs seem more hands-on, and I was very pleased to see this brought back in all future Mario RPGs.

If a sequel were to be made, I'd love it to be very similar to Super Mario RPG in terms of viewpoint and gameplay. A true 3D world would be welcome, and 3D characters and enemies. As such, it would be best suited to the Nintendo DS.

While it was ahead of its time for humour within the series, it has been usurped by the later Mario RPGs. Perhaps if they took some of the genius from Mario & Luigi RPG, we'd be well on our way to one of the finest RPGs crafted by Nintendo.

[wanderingshadow]

I have a copy of Super Mario RPG that has been throughly beaten. I bought because I liked both Mario and RPGs. I agree that the action commands were great. To tell the truth, I'm surprised more RPGs con't use them.

[8bitretroshit]

Had to use an emulator because Europe and yes it's pretty fun. The locales, NPCs and enemies are pretty non-Mario weird (Purple crodocile with a top-hat..?), but I guess that's one of its charms. I'm totally downloading it when I can with my US Wii.

Pro-tip: The Inns ask like 90+ coins for a night's rest later in the game, so just use the quick world map and go back to the first town and get healed up for 10 coins.

[Nester the Lark]

I bought Super Mario RPG back when it was first released. I had a coupon for it worth $10.

I loved it! The way it broke RPG conventions made it feel a little like Chrono Trigger. At the time, I thought it was the next best thing to Super Mario 64. The graphics and sound were great, the story was fun, and there were so many mini-games and things to do. It was brilliant.

And I haven't played a Mario RPG since.

[Fryguy64]

Well, I highly recommend Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, as it's one of the funniest games I have ever played

[missingno.is back?]

I only ever played Super Mario RPG once, and I was about seven years old.
and btw, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a fine game.

[TV Eye]

I think if a new Mario RPG came out, they'd need more platforming sections. The ones in SMRPG were fun and all, but some were pretty bland (like the mine carts for instance...)

[wanderingshadow]

admin said:

Well, I highly recommend Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, as it's one of the funniest games I have ever played

I don't know. I think that the Paper Mario games would give M&L a run for it's money.

[Arcadenik]

Personally I enjoy Super Mario RPG a lot. The only reason I bought it 12 years ago was because it was a brand-new Mario game then. And I didn't know it was a RPG (I didn't know what RPG stood for back then ) so I didn't know it would have turn-based battles like my first RPG Breath of Fire (I didn't even know it was a RPG, too). And I beat it over and over and over. I really enjoy the world, the levels, the characters, the story, and the side-quests. My favorite party setup would be Mario, Bowser, and Peach but only because they were the only actual Mario characters. But now that I am older, I'm finding Mallow and Geno to be just as effective as Bowser and Peach. To me, Peach is the most essential party member because of her Group Hug and Come Back specials. And I liked both Mallow and Geno but once I got into the Internet for the first time 8 years ago and saw that Geno is hugely popular. I didn't understand why so I found him to be very overrated and Mallow underrated but I still like them both.

[kirbychu]

A CONTROVERSIAL OPINION!?

I hate SMRPG. I've played it from beginning to end twice, and though it's a somewhat enjoyable game in places, I never want to repeat the experience again. The overworld offered little variety, and I generally felt I was exploring the same place over and over. Those overworld areas also had some pretty glitchy collision detection. And the battles, though a bit better than the standard RPG battle, were still very dull and mechanical.

Overall, my favourite part of the game was the introduction movie. Which is pretty sad. This game almost prevented me from trying Paper Mario at all, and that has now become my favourite Mario spin-off series (barring SPM, of course).

[Spud]

I've been a fan of the M&L Games, granted though once you get to the end of the game you can be so powerful that all the enemies in the game including the final boss can be beat in a couple of moves. M&L PiT was better about not letting you get so powerful though.

[Flip]

I was not a big fan of Partners in Time, but the Paper Mario games and the original Mario & Luigi are fantastic. Mario RPG used to be my biggest pet peeve for years, though I do recall loving it when I first rented it as a kid. I think I was going through my "Sony is totally evil" phase, which still resides somewhat, and I refused to touch anything with Square involved. When I hit high school, I grew out of this and replayed Mario RPG and loved it. It wasn't until college, though, that I became a big fan of the game. I think it was something I had to play a few times before I could forgive it for not being "Mario" enough.

Now, looking back, it was actually just enough "Mario" to make for a solid game.

[Smashchu]

Not much to say. I loved it when I played it, and I replayed it quite a lot. Great game, just a bit on the short side. If it was longer then it would be great. Customization and more character advancement would be good too.

[Dasher Misire]

The ONLY RPG with Bowser helping you to keep him in character. Never stops trying to leave the group. His victory pose in the Japanese game furthers my point about his feelings... *cough*